Tuskegee University’s Board of Trustees has launched the university’s search for its eighth president by creating a 15-member search committee. The committee, under the leadership of Board of Trustees Chair John E. Page, is charged with recommending a candidate who will serve as the university’s next president.

US Black Engineer magazine honoree Norma Clayton (in photo) is search committee vice chair, first vice chair of the Board of Trustees, and retired vice president for learning, training, and development of The Boeing Company, St. Louis, Missouri.

“One of the most important responsibilities of the Board of Trustees is to appoint the president,” Page said. “The Board is committed to finding the best person to build on the legacies of Tuskegee University’s previous presidents, beginning with our iconic founding principal, Booker T. Washington. We seek an inspiring leader who will advance the university’s five-year plan while preparing us to be a competitive and contemporary university in the decades to come.”

Committee members represent trustees, the university’s Board of Advisors, leaders of the Student Government Association, Tuskegee University National Alumni Association, University Staff Senate, faculty, and five university alumni.

“The search committee members represent a broad spectrum of our university community and have the experience and knowledge to help inform the board in its search for the next president,” Page said.

Tuskegee University has partnered with executive search firm Isaacson, Miller, which will assist the committee with its work. The firm has conducted executive searches for a diverse group of higher education institutions — from Duke and Dartmouth to Morehouse and Spelman.

The search committee’s first meeting was held on Oct. 20. The search committee expects to establish a timeline that will result in the selection of a successful candidate by summer 2018.

The search committee members are:

John Page: search committee chair; chair of the Board of Trustees; and senior corporate vice president, chief corporate social responsibility, and chief legal officer of Golden State Foods Corp., Irvine, California
Norma Clayton: search committee vice chair; first vice chair of the Board of Trustees; and retired vice president for learning, training, and development of The Boeing Company, St. Louis, Missouri
Bernard Anderson: university trustee and Whitney M. Young Jr. professor emeritus, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Solomon Banks ’64: chair, Tuskegee University Eminent Presidential Associates; and retired director of housing for the Los Angles Housing Department, Los Angeles, California
Kevin Green: university trustee; retired vice admiral, U.S. Navy; and retired IBM vice president, Oak Hill, Virginia
Floyd Griffin ’66: secretary of the Board of Trustees; retired U.S. Army colonel; and retired business owner, Milledgeville, Georgia
Erick Harris ’09: second vice chair of the Board of Trustees; and associate, Dyer, Coatney & Schroder, Edmond, Oklahoma
E. Chris Johnson: university trustee; retired North America vice president and general counsel, GM; and CEO and co-founder, Center for Justice, Rights & Dignity, Novi, Michigan
Vanessa Lee: chair, Tuskegee University Staff Senate
Virda K. Lester: tenured professor, Tuskegee University College of Education
Mortimer Neufville ’70: member, Tuskegee University Board of Advisors; and former president, Coppin State University and University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, Darnestown, Maryland
Burt Rowe ’70: president, Tuskegee National Alumni Association, Inc.; and retired chief manufacturing officer and director of global manufacturing strategy and procurement for the wireless division of Alcatel-Lucent, Westerville, Ohio
Art Tipton: university trustee; and president and CEO of Southern Research, Birmingham, Alabama
Tameka Tremaglio: university trustee; and Greater Washington managing principal and East regional leader, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services; McLean, Virginia
Austin Turk ’18: president, Tuskegee University Student Government Association

The position of university president became available upon the conclusion of the previous president’s contract in June 2017. Dr. Charlotte P. Morris, who was appointed to serve as interim president beginning July 1 and until a successor is named, is not seeking to fill the vacancy.